Esri DevMeetUp Events Hit Canada in November – Get your GeoGeek On!

It’s good to finally see the DevMeetup movement that Esri made popular in the US finally catching on up north in Canada – albeit after watching the southern crew roll them out in dozens of venues over the past 2-3 years – better late than never I guess! Coming up in November, the organizing crew from Esri Canada has DevMeetups planned for Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal (I’m quite surprised not to see Calgary and Victoria mentioned in the lineup) .

If you aren’t familiar with DevMeetups, the format is informal and typical consists of a keynote presentation that will last 15-30 minutes (often a popular, local Esri business partner or developer) followed by several lightning talks (5 minutes prezos), a Q&A period, then beer and some light food. The events are planned and organized (and paid for) by Esri although the marketing and Esri hype is usually minimal, rather, the event is meant to be a local meetup with an un-conference type feel. Speaking spots are typically up for grabs and its a great opportunity for any developer or GISuser for that matter to take to the stage and show off a recent projects, some hot technology or ?? I’m often amazed at the reluctance that people have to take advantage of these awesome events and I encourage anyone who’s fortunate to have a meetup taking place nearby to get out there and mingle with the crowd, it really is a terrific opportunity. I’ve attended about 6 or 7 DevMeetups myself and also participated in the planning of a couple – get out there and MEetUp with some local GeoGeeks, you won’t be disappointed!